ETS LICENSING Combining tv and digital for an offer adapted to the consumer evolution

ETS LICENSING

COMBINING TV AND DIGITAL FOR AN OFFER ADAPTED TO THE CONSUMER EVOLUTION

Entertainment Licensing is traditionally linked to television content, but the last few years have also seen an important development of properties born in a digital field, in particular on social media. Lockdown months have given a further boost to this trend, thanks to a sharp increase in exposure to web content. A GFK research shows that the use of digital content has even grown during the pandemic by 25%, driven by a strong demand for entertainment, as well as information. (Source: “GFK Insight - May’20).

PROPERTIES COMING FROM DIGITAL ARE INCREASING

Coherently with these evolutions, ETS has built a license portfolio that reserves an important space for digital, with the aim of seizing the most interesting opportunities and developing innovative projects. The most recent ETS acquisition on the digital front is Chefclub, the innovative “cooking brand” that grows fastest on social media, with over 12 billion views in 2019 and a community of 80 million followers. Born in Paris in 2016 from an idea of Lang brothers, it has rapidly developed around the world through the production and distribution of entertaining cooking videos published on the main social platforms. Chefclub Network offers easy to make recipes, which inspire, amuse, surprise and make the kitchen a space for sharing and joy. Born with the ambition of creating extraordinary recipes using simple ingredients, it transforms recipe videos into real popular entertainment for millions of people around the globe. Thanks to a unique positioning, halfway between cooking and entertainment, Chefclub can count on a very large and engaged audience, which goes beyond cooking enthusiasts. With 5 digital channels available in 8 languages, it has achieved strong global development and reaches 200 million people every month. It also has a very transversal reach because through the different social platforms its content addresses a wide audience from 3 to 99 years old. The brand is also seeing rapid growth in our country: Chefclub’s Italian FB and Instagram pages collect over 5.3 million followers and in 2019 got an average of 86.5 million views per month. Chefclub Original offers super creative ideas to

impress friends and family. On Chefclub Daily you will find recipes that reinvent everyday dishes with imagination. Chefclub Light & Fun offers extraordinary low calorie recipes to keep your weight on track with a smile. Always ready to spice up evenings with your friends, there is Chefclub Cocktails, and finally Chefclub Kids is designed for family cooking and foster the creativity of the little ones.

Another new entry in the ETS portfolio coming from the digital area is Who killed Kenny?, the innovative comicgame created by cartoonist Pera Toons, aka Alessandro Perugini, which offers mono-comics mini-enigmas where the protagonist Kenny is always the victim of a murder, while the suspects change from time to time. Featuring an essential graphic sign and flat colors, the intriguing riddles stimulate reasoning skills and lateral thinking and are aimed at a transversal audience made up of children, adults and families who love riddles, thrillers and comics. The original investigative format has appeared for the first time on the author’s social media profiles, obtaining a huge following in a very short time, leading to the creation of a community of fans of comics and riddles with over 2 million followers and more than 10 million views per week reached so far. Strengthened by the enormous popularity on social media, the comic-game was equally successfully proposed in print: Tunué published in 2018 the first book Who killed Kenny?, re-printed after only 2 weeks, entered in the Amazon ranking as top seller and also published in the United States. This first release was also followed in 2019 by a second publication Who killed Kenny? Kenny’s Throne, which replicated the excellent results of the debut, increasing the popularity of the character, and launching an ambitious editorial plan. Galinha Pintadinha, the preschool property born in Brazil, become very popular worldwide thanks to funny videos of songs for children, is also part of the licenses coming from digital area. The

worldwide Youtube channels of Galinha

Pintadinha have a total of almost 40 million subscribers and reach over 20 billions of views. From social networks, the nice blue-hen was also brought to TV with the development of an animated series that is extremely successful as well. The first season with 52 episodes of 6 minutes each, broadcast for the first time in Italy at the beginning of March on Frisbee, will be joined by the second season in early 2021, with 52 additional episodes. Following the launch in Italy, an official Facebook page and Instagram profile have been also created and have already achieved excellent results, confirming

the character’s “social soul”. The Italian

Facebook page has obtained more than 5,000 followers and over 150,000 users in just 3 months from the activation, while the Instagram profile in the same period has registered more than 34,000 users and almost 5,000 interactions, confirming a high level of satisfaction and an interesting potential for licensing development as well.

Even the super-fashion Hairdorables, popular collectible dolls launched in 2018 by Just Play, and distributed in Italy by Giochi Preziosi, are in strong tune with the web. In fact, they address a large community of young fans by constantly offering new digital content to increase sharing and engagement.

TV SERIES BRANDS ARE A BIG PART IN ETS PORTFOLIO

Lockdown months also led to a significant growth in the use of television content (+ 18% - source GFK Insight - May 2020),

also highlighting an approach of youngers and confirming TV as a fundamental media for entertainment. In line with these indications, the properties linked to TV series, animated and live, are an important presence in the ETS portfolio.

The most recent acquisition of ETS in this area is Nefertine on the Nile, an unprecedented preschool animated series which narrates the adventures of a courageous girl from Ancient Egypt who aspires to become a scribe-reporter and is involved in a thousand adventures and intrigues, including mummies, pyramids and sphinxes. With 52 episodes of 11 minutes each, the series, produced by Graphilm Entertainment, DQ Entertainment and Cyber Group Studios, in collaboration with Rai Ragazzi, will be broadcast on Rai Yoyo in spring 2021.

Also Mini Pet Pals is part of the TV content offer by ETS, a preschool animated series co-produced by Gruppo Alcuni and Rai Ragazzi and broadcast daily on Rai Yoyo. They are planned 52 additional episodes of the new 4th season in TV on 2021, to be added to the 156 episodes already available. Quality content with a strong educational

vocation, excellent ratings and a consolidated partnership with the broadcaster, guarantees long-term continuity and a privileged exposure to the target. The series can also count on a theme park, a website and personalized social media channels, frequent collaboration initiatives with schools and a dedicated section on Rai Play streaming platform and on Rai Play Yoyo App.

The TV content related IPs include Oggy and the Cockroaches, long-lived French animated series produced by Gaumont and Xilam with a primary target of 4-11 years; Luky Luke and The Daltons, two evergreens born from the world of western comics, with an audience 6 - 11 years, but enjoyable by an adult target; the animated series Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed, which stages the hilarious adventures of Dennis and the dog Gansher , for all children aged 6 and over; Zig&Sharko, recently acquired, a French animated series produced by Xilam, with a target of 6-11 years, which tells the clumsy attempts of the hyena Zig to eat a naïve mermaid, always thwarted by the muscular shark Sharko. Complete this area Disenchantment, a tv series available on Netflix and born from the genius of Matt Groening.

LIVE ACTION IS NOT MISSING

The ETS portfolio also offers licenses related to much loved live action TV series. Among these, based on the famous book, there is the irresistible Pippi Longstocking, who in Italy owes her popularity above all to a famous TV series from the 70s, still broadcast on several TV channels (Cartoonito, Italia1, DeaJunior). Pippi is an evergreen global icon that has inspired several generations, continues to represent a pillar in the entertainment of children all over the world and is loved by a wide and transversal audience, thanks to an adventurous and unconventional, universal and timeless spirit. Taking inspiration from her strength and courage, in 2020 The Astrid Lindgren Company launched, in partnership with Save the Children, the global “Pippi of Today” campaign, with the aim of raising funds to help migrant girls fleeing war and poverty. In consideration of the crisis caused by Covid-19, which puts these girls even more at risk, The Astrid Lindgren Company and Save the Children have decided to extend for the whole

2021 this important campaign, which includes several international initiatives for the coming months.

The licensing program is also proceeding successfully, with prestigious international companies including H&M, Ikea, Pantone Color Institute and Happy Socks and important collaborations in Italy, such as: the publishers Salani and Nord-Sud, who have recently published books with new content, Multiprint which has developed a wide assortment of packs with stamps and markers, Fondazione Aida featuring a puppet show, Ottod’Ame who designed an original women’s clothing collection and Clementoni soon launghing a puzzle line.

For the teen audience, there are Penny On M.A.R.S., a property linked to the live series produced by 3Zero2Tv in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Italia, where dreams, loves, and friendships live to the rhythm of music and Sara e Marti, produced by Stand By Me in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Italia, characterized by innovative language and fresh and spontaneous acting.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH DISCOVERY

The ETS portfolio is enriched with innovative proposals aimed at an adult target thanks to this collaboration that concerns the licensing rights of the channels - Real Time, Food Network, DMAX, Nove -, including also network’s leading TV programmes, and the new HGTV - Home &GardenTV - managed as a brand for their targeted positioning and specificity of content. Recently it has been launched a line of men’s clothing and accessories for trekking, hiking and work, born from the collaboration between DMax, the thematic channel dedicated to the male audience with factual entertainment and current events, and the mass market chain LIDL. The line has been launched in all LIDL stores throughout Europe.

TALKING TOM: A BRIDGE BETWEEN INNOVATIVE AND TRADITIONAL APPROACH FOR THE USE OF CONTENT

In the ETS portfolio, there’s a property that has had incredible success both with

digital and television content: Talking Tom and Friends. Using innovative and

traditional approaches, the fun and family-oriented entertainment property – Outfit7’s flagship – has record results over its decade-long journey. It features an award-winning animated series that’s currently among the most requested shows on the planet (with 7.1 times the demand against the average samecategory shows globally), a portfolio of 23 free-to-play games with over 13 billion downloads and up to 410 million MAU to date, merchandise products and so much more. Online, the franchise’s video content – which also includes the adventures of Talking Tom Heroes, the action-packed Talking Tom Shorts, and the cute Minis series – regularly tops the YouTube family entertainment charts. In fact, the Talking Tom and Friends YouTube channels rank in the Top 50 most viewed worldwide, with up to 65 million daily views. The franchise has also achieved three YouTube Diamond Creator Awards, with more than 65 million subscribers, and has recorded over 38 billion total views. Offline the animated series is broadcast daily on TV on K2, and has been localized into more than 30 other languages to meet demand. Next, the brand’s staggering global success is leading it to the silver screen.